Savannah Talbot and the Secret of Hogwarts
by shippin-itlike-UPS
Summary: Savannah Talbot is just the average first year at Hogwarts. Well, as average as one gets when befriending the Marauders. She's excited for the adventures and learning that awaits, but what she finds is more than anything she expected. Who said a Gryffindor couldn't be a good finder? Marauder-Era FanFic with non-Mary Sue OC
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One- New Faces and the Hogwarts Express**

Savannah Talbot yawned, stretching her arms above her head. Rolling over, she glanced at the clock on her nightstand. It was seven.

Clambering out of bed, she glanced at the calendar and then quickly did a double take. Today was September 1st! She was going to Hogwarts!

Hurriedly she stepped into a skirt and blouse, shrugging stockings on as she made it to the landing of the staircase. Squealing, she rushed down.

At the kitchen table was her father, eyes scanning the newspaper, and her brother sat wolfing down sausages and eggs. Rolling her eyes at him, she ran up to her mother who was at the stove and hugged her from behind.

"Mum! Morning! Do you know what today is?" She couldn't keep the smile out of her voice as her mum turned around and hugged her back.

"Hmm. Let me think, Tuesday?" her mother asked jokingly. "Oh, right! It's your first day at Hogwarts." She grinned down at her and ran a hand through her daughters' still slightly messy brown hair.

Savannah nodded, an impish grin stretching onto her face. "I'm so excited!" she squealed.

Her father looked up from his paper, a broad grin on his face. "My little Savannah, growing up already. Ten, I can't believe it!"

Her brother rolled his eyes. "Right, and I'm not grown up at sixteen."

Savannah poked his shoulder. "Ryder you couldn't act grown up if you tried!"

Ashley, her youngest sibling at age seven, poked her head around the corner giggling. Ryder stood up after taking his last bite of sausage, and crept up to her. Reaching down, he grabbed her around the waist and tickled her.

Her little squeals filled the kitchen and the family looked on in amusement.

"Ry-Ryder! Sto-stop it! Put me do-down!" She screeched in between giggles.

Ryder laughed, tipping her upside down and slowly swooping her down. At the last second he turned her right side up and she playfully smacked his arm.

"Meanie."

Savannah laughed at the scene and Ashley meandered over to her. She wrapped her small frame in her arms and tucked her close.

Ashley tugged on her sleeve and whispered in Savannah's ear. "I'm going to miss you."

Savannah smiled softly. "I'm going to miss you too, Ash. But you'll be fine and besides, Ryder needs someone to look after him!"

Ryder rolled his eyes from the hallway on his way to the bathroom. Her father chuckled and her mother hid a laugh behind a slice of toast.

"Right then, we'd best get moving dears. Look at the time!" her mother said.

Nodding, Savannah took her brother's vacant seat. Reaching for a slice of toast, she asked, "What platform is it again?"

Her brother answered from the bathroom with his mouth full of toothpaste. "Fife anf free forters."

"Sorry, didn't quite catch that.."

Snorting, her father translated, " Platform 9 3/4."

"Umm...excuse me?"

Ryder shook his head. "You heard me. Run into that brick wall."

Savannah turned to her parents for support in proving he was crazy, but they just smiled at her. "See? I was serious," Ryder said as they stepped onto Plarform Nine and Three Quarters.

Suddenly a voice called out from behind them. "Actually, I'm Sirius."

A boy who looked to be Savannah's age approached them, a wide smirk on his face. He had long curly black hair with grey eyes. Spotting Savannah, he said, "allow me to properly introduce myself. The name's Black, Sirius Black."

Her brother rolled his eyes, but Savannah eagerly shook his hand. She was excited to maybe have a friend for the first day.

"Hello Sirius. I'm Savannah Talbot and this is my brother Ryder."

He smiled at them both, throwing a wink her way. She felt her cheeks redden and rolled her eyes. Her mum had been right-boys were ridiculous sometimes.

Just then, something bumped into the back of Savannah, causing her to fall forward, almost into Sirius. Catching her balance, she pivoted to see what happened, and found a stout boy with mousy hair on the ground.

Sirius momentarily forgotten, she bent down to help the boy. "Here, are you all right?" she asked as she helped him to his feet.

The boy gulped and looked down at his feet, nodding ever so slightly. "Y-yeah. Sorry about k-knocking you over," he stuttered to the ground.

Savannah smiled kindly at him, but he missed it with his eyes trained on the ground. "No problem, no harm done!" He chanced a glance up at her cheerful tone and smiled sheepishly.

"So, what's your name then? I'm Savannah, this is Sirius, and...my brother Ryder ditched me. Well, that was thoughtful of him."

Sirius chuckled at her sarcasm and earned himself a smile. The newcomer, however, seemed to be fidgeting and nervously spoke. "P-Peter Pettigrew."

She smiled down at him, as she was a few good inches taller than him. "Well Peter, let's go then, shall we?"

He stared at her in almost disbelief, before shrugging and following the brunette and the curly-haired boy. Grumbling to himself, he followed behind them, lugging his trunk. _Why had he packed so much?_

The trio clambered onto the train, and upon reaching the end, found an empty compartment. Sitting down beside Sirius, Savannah smiled.

"We're going to Hogwarts!"

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Really Savannah, I had no idea!"

Peter hesitantly chortled. "Yeah, I bought a wand and uniform for a walk to the park."

Sirius high-fived him snickering. Savannah rolled her eyes but couldn't resist a giggle. "Oh shut it you two," she mock-scolded.

At that, the compartment door slid open slightly. Two heads peered in.

"Er, hello, I'm sorry, but may we join-"

The other boy was cut off by his companion as he strolled into the compartment as if he owned it, and sprawling out on the empty space beside Peter.

"Name's Potter. James Potter." The boy smirked at each of us, running a hand through his messy black hair. Savannah rolled her eyes; he reminded her of Sirius already.

Said Black must have thought along the same lines because he jumped up, shaking Potter's hand eagerly. "I'm Sirius, Sirius Black."

While the two talked to Peter, Savannah turned to the sandy-haired boy in the doorway. "Hello, want to come in?" she asked politely.

He smiled shyly at her and nodded. Taking a seat across from her he said, "hello. I'm Remus Lupin."

Savannah smiled at him and introduced herself. As time wore on, the other three added them to the conversation and they talked about the Hogwarts houses and what they expected the teachers would be like. Then of course, came the inevitable topic; quidditch.

James puffed his chest proudly. "I'm going to be Quidditch Captain by my fifth year!" Sirius huffed and then laughed as Savannah poked James in the chest and he deflated.

"I'm going to be!" Sirius shouted.

As the two got caught in a shouting match, Savannah turned to Remus and rolled her eyes. He smiled at her and said, "they're like brothers already."

She nodded her head in agreement, as well as Peter. She went to say something, but was interrupted by the trolley.

"Hello dears, can I interest you in any snacks?"

An hour later found Peter snoring into a Pumpkin Pasty, James and Sirius asleep amidst a rather impressive pile of chocolate frog wrappers. Remus was reading and Savannah took the peace as an opportunity to slide out a book of her own.

Carefully thumbing the pages she started rereading Hogwarts: A History for the umpteenth time. Smiling, she felt the train fall away and was surrounded in her favorite world of inky black and parchment white. No matter what lay ahead at Hogwarts, she took comfort in knowing she could simply escape it all in a book.

**A/N: Hello, new story! Sorry if Savannah seems a bit Mary-Sue here, i promise she isn;t, not at all...(That's a major hint for the story plot!)**

**Please review! :)**

**-Alyssa xx**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two: The Sorting

Savannah walked into the Great Hall flanked by Peter and Remus, Sirius and James in front. All eyes were wide as they took in the ceiling, currently a peaceful starry night, and the floating candles. Four long tables were filled with different houses of students. Savannah already knew where she wanted to be.

There were the green and silver of Slytherin, and she shook her head as she walked by. Next was the Hufflepuff table. She wouldn't mind being a Hufflepuff, but she didn't particularly feel she belonged there either. That left Gryffindor with its bright red and gleaming gold and Ravenclaw in blue and black. It wasn't the bold and brave that called to her, no, it was Ravenclaw.

She turned to tell Remus as much, but stopped when she saw him glancing wistfully at the Gryffindor table. "You want to be a lion, huh?" she asked him lightly, hoping to ease his apparent apprehension.

Remus nodded and smiled softly. "I'd love to be, though I doubt that's where I'll end up. It's a shame though, I really won't look too lovely in green and silver."

Savannah rolled her eyes. "Why do you think you'll be in Slytherin?" He looked down at his shoes, suddenly taking an interest in his black converse.

He mumbled something she couldn't quite catch. As she went to ask him what he'd said, Professor McGonagall's voice cut everyone off. Whispering so as not to disturb the others listening, she squeezed Remus' hand and said, "you'll be in Gryffindor for sure. Don't worry. And even if you aren't, I'll still be your friend."

"-Black, Sirius!" McGonagall called.

Sirius strode confidently up to the stage and sat on the stool. Once the hat was placed on his head, all was quiet. After no more than a minute, the hat suddenly shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!" There was a collective gasp from the older students and it appeared even McGonagall was surprised. Savannah made a mental note to ask Sirius about that later.

The names were called in order, James getting in Gryffindor just as soon as the hat touched his head, and Remus getting Gryffindor too just as she'd told him he would.

"Pettigrew, Peter!" Savannah threw a reassuring smile his way and he returned it somewhat hesitantly. The hat took a full two minutes on Peter and when it finally called Gryffindor, Peter left the stage sickly pale with Savannah wondering just what the hat had said to him. Finally came her name, and she almost tripped going up the stairs. She cursed herself for her clumsiness and took her place on the three-legged stool.

"_Hmmmm.. A very interesting mind. Intelligent yes, a thirst for knowledge. Kind, caring, courageous. Ah yes, bravery. Not very cunning, not back-stabbing._" The hat spoke in her mind, and she shook her head at her surprise. She was at a magic school, the least thing to surprise her should be a talking hat. Continuing to analyze her, the hat said, "_this is a rather difficult one. Loyal like a Hufflepuff, smarts of a Ravenclaw, bravery of a Gryffindor, you could be placed anywhere but Slytherin..ah but your friends are in Gryffindor, I see... it best be._.. ...GRYFFINDOR!" the hat finished aloud.

She was stunned and walked to the gold and red table in a half-daze, puzzling how she of all people were brave. After a minute, she shrugged it off. If the hat, which had been sorting students since the school was founded, thought she was a Gryffindor, then a Gryffindor she was!

Beaming at the older students high-fiving and congratulating her, she made her way to the table where her four friends all sat. She found it rather convenient they were in the same house, but she didn't understand why it would've been a problem if one of them had been in another house. Her opinion didn't waver later, though many an older student warned her to watch out for the Slytherins. She shook it off. No matter what, there was good and bad in each house.

Besides, her cousin was in Slytherin, and there was no way they could all be evil if he was there.

XxXxXx

"That was delicious,: James groaned while lounging in an armchair. The boys and Savannah had retreated to the Common Room after the Feast. Savannah shook her head; they hadn't been here for a full day and yet Sirius and James were acting as though they owned the place.

She supposed she shouldn't be judging as she had decided to befriend them and she hadn't known them for a full day. Then again, they already considered her a friend as well. "I can't even begin to imagine how you lot ate all that candy and then that much at the Feast."

Sirius shook his head, clutching his stomach. "Don't remind me."

Remus chuckled from the couch where he was eating a chocolate frog. "It's your fault for eating so much,' he said with a grin.

Savannah smiled at him then remembered what she was going to ask him before the sorting. "Remus? Why did you think you were going to be put in Slytherin?"

Just as Lupin was about to answer, a group of first-year Gryffindor girls walked in through the portrait-hole. In the center was a red-head that had previously introduced herself to Savannah, but for the life of her she couldn't remember her name. The group stopped by the couches, and Savannah was amused to see Sirius winking and smiling at several. Remus was smiling politely, and Peter was suddenly enthralled in a Cauldron Cake wrapper despite his full stomach moments ago. James, however, was unabashedly staring at the redhead and Savannah had to hide a laugh.

"Hello," Savannah spoke up. She was rewarded with smiles from the group.

"Hi!" The redhead answered cheerfully and continued, "I'm Lily Evans, this is Alice Prewett, Marlene McKinnon, and Mary MacDonald. Savannah, I remember you from earlier." Savannah beamed as the others introduced themselves.

"This is Remus Lupin," James pointed to Remus who gave a slight wave and a shy smile. 'This is Peter Pettigrew," he gestured to Peter while he had a mouthful, "and this is-"

He was cut off by Sirius standing up and kissing Marlene McKinnon's hand. "The name's Black, SIrius Black." He winked at her and Marlene rolled her eyes but smiled with a slight blush.

Mary chuckled and Alice giggled into her hand while Lily just rolled her eyes. James glared at Sirius and finished his introduction. "And I'm James Potter," he said confidently and ran a hand through his already messy hair.

Lily smiled at him. He smiled back and sort of stared at her for a good minute. "Erm, James?"

He jolted out of whatever trance he was in, but instead of being embarrassed like Savannah had expected him to be, he smirked at Lily and said, "sorry, but you're so pretty." Lily's face suddenly matched her hair-beet red.

"Errr. Thank you James?"

He smiled and seemed rather proud of himself. "Don't mention it,' he turned to the couch inhabitants. "Ready boys? I think it's time we go to bed so we're ready for school tomorrow."

Savannah was fairly certain no one missed the mischevious twinkle in James' eyes as everyone exchanged goodnights. Following the other girls uo to the dorm, she allowed herself a yawn. Clambering into bed no more than ten minutes after, she lay thinking of her Hogwarts experience so far.

Smiling at the thought of her new friends, she shut her eyes, falling asleep with the hope of a great first day dancing behind her closed eyelids. She didn't expect to wake up at three in the morning from a horrible nightmare, and she definitely didn't expect Remus to have the same one.

XxXxXxXx

**A/N: Hello. please let me know your thoughts and any constructive criticism. Review! xx**


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